Academic Appointments
- Professor of Neurology at CUMC
Current Administrative Positions
- Chief, Division of Child Neurology
- Director, Pediatric Epilepsy Program
- Director, Tuberous Sclerosis Program at CUIMC

Dr. Akman is a Professor of Neurology at CUIMC and chief of the Division of Child Neurology in the Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.
Dr. Akman was born and educated in Ankara, Turkey where she graduated with Honors from the School of Medicine, Ankara University. Dr. Akman completed her training in Child Neurology at State University of New York, followed by a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology and Epilepsy at Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Subsequently, Dr Akman joined the Division of Child Neurology and the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where she participated in clinical education and patient care until 2008. Between 2008 and 2010, Dr. Akman worked as the Director of Clinical Epilepsy Research at Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine. Dr Akman returned to Columbia in 2010 and now heads both the Division of Child Neurology and the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Her clinical practice focuses on infantile and childhood epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, and the treatment of refractory epilepsy in children.
Dr. Akman's clinical research has focused on childhood-onset epilpsy, epilepsy refractory to the medical treatment, epilepsy surgery and cognitive and behavioral problems associated with epilepsy. Dr Akman has published inpeer reviewed journals, in the area of medical treatment and diagnosis of childhood onset epilepsy, clinical neurophysiology to describe the EEG patterns in critically ill children.
Departmental Appointments
- Department of Neurology
Division of Child Neurology
Languages Spoken
(in addition to English)
- Turkish
Education and Training
- Ankara University Medical School
- Internship: Maimonides Medical Center
- Residency: State University of New York - Downstate Medical Center
- Fellowship: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
- Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Boston
Centers / Institutes / Programs
- Columbia Comprehensive Epilepsy Center (Adult and Pediatric)
Links
Lab Locations
CUMC/Harkness Pavilion
180 Fort Washington Avenue
New York, NY 10032- Fax:
- (212) 342-6865
Committees / Societies / Memberships
American Epilepsy Society
Child Neurology Society
Honors and Awards
Castle Connoly Top Doctors, 2013
Patients' Choice Rated & Awarded by patients, 2013
New York, Rated one of New Yorks Magazine's Best Doctor , 2013
Research Interests
- Childhood-onset epilepsy
NIH Grants
APHASE 2, PROSPECTIVE, INTERVENTIONAL, OPEN-LABEL, MULTI-SITE,EXTENSION STUDY TO ASSESS THE LONG-TERM SAFETY AND TOLERABILITY OF TAK-935 AS ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH RARE EPILEPSY (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
May 7 2019 - May 7 2024
APHASE 2, MULTICENTER, RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY, SAFETY, AND TOLERABILITY OF TAK-935 AS AN ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL AND/OR EPILEPTIC ENCEPHALOPATHIES (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Jan 30 2019 - Jan 30 2024
CORTICAL LOCALIZATION IN EPILEPSY (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2018 - Jun 30 2023
CATEGORY I: TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACHES TO IMPROVE HEALTH IN HARLEM (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2009 - Jun 29 2015